Wayne County outperforms state in manufacturing jobs, population growth

Wednesday

Dec 6, 2017 at 3:38 PMDec 6, 2017 at 4:06 PM

By Bobby Warren Staff Writer

WOOSTER — Wayne County’s economic, employment and population growth continues to outpace the state since the Great Recession, an Ohio State University professor said during a Briefing for Business event Wednesday at the Shisler Center.

Mark Partridge, who was the speaker at the inaugural Wayne Economic Development County B4B in December 2014, was back again, and he was yet again surprised by how well the county has fared.

“I consistently underestimate how well you are doing here,” said Partridge, who has been invited to give his economic outlook every December since his first address. As an economist, he is naturally a skeptic and wanted to find some bad things to say about the economies of the United States, Ohio and Wayne County, but for the most part things are going well.

Two issues for Wayne County are workforce availability and low educational attainment, Partridge said.

WEDC and other partners have initiated the Workforce Innovations Network to help address the need for skilled workers here, and WIN has launched a Work in Wayne marketing campaign to show why Wayne County is a good place to live, work, learn and play (www.workinwayne.com).

Population has been an issue in Ohio. Where the U.S. population has been growing around 4 percent, Ohio’s growth rate is 0.7 percent. Wayne County’s population has grown by 1.7 percent. While not a lot and not at a fast clip, the county is outperforming the state, something not many rural counties do, Partridge said. But, Wayne County is attracting people.

When an entity overperforms, it is generally a sign of good leadership, Partridge said. When it underperforms, something is not working right.

“Don’t get overconfident,” Partridge said. But, “Whatever you are doing, you are doing well. Other counties are not doing what Wayne County is.”

Manufacturing collapsed in Ohio and Wayne County, but the county has again outperformed the state in bringing back those manufacturing jobs. “Not many rural counties do this — you’re just not going to find it.”

What impressed the economist, who looks at urban-rural policy, the most was how the self-employment rate in Wayne County again outpaced the state. These are small businesses that have not incorporated, but are hiring workers. Partridge repeated the refrain of how well Wayne County has performed since the Great Recession.

If people were not confident of the business climate and conditions here, they would not be starting companies, Partridge said. Small businesses are good to have in a recession because they will cushion anything bad that might happen, he added. If a large employer suffers during a recession, then there is the potential the whole town will, too.

“You’re better than you were 10 years ago,” Partridge said.

This was the first WEDC-organized event for its new president, Tom Pukys, and he liked what he heard.

“In some sense, I am excited about his comments, but, in another sense, it doesn’t surprise me,” Pukys said. He appreciated Partridge’s comments about the social cohesion and social capital here in Wayne County.

“The biggest take-away is the social capital,” Pukys said. “There’s financial capital that can drive projects, but it is the social, human capital that gets things done. I’m excited to be here.”

Reporter Bobby Warren can be reached at 330-287-1639 or bwarren@the-daily-record.com. He is @BobbyWarrenTDR on Twitter.